It didn't take long for him to reach it. Bruce slowed to a stop right in front of it.
The red pillar of light bathed him completely, its glow painting his face in deep crimson as he stared at the magnificent sight before him. From this close, the pillar wasn't just light, it was structure. Layer upon layer of condensed mana spiraled upward, vast and endless, vanishing into the sky like a divine signal flare.
Then his eyes dropped.
At the root of the pillar,
A gemstone hovered a few centimeters above the ground.
Red.
Big, the size of a large bucket. Diamond-shaped.
It rotated slowly in place, each rotation smooth and deliberate, as if governed by an unseen will. This was the source. The heart of it all. From the stone, pure condensed mana poured outward endlessly, feeding the pillar above like an inexhaustible spring.
Bruce immediately understood.
This was the Labyrinth Stone.
The mana here…
It felt familiar.
Bruce's breathing slowed as memories surfaced, unwanted, vivid.
